Thursday, August 02, 2007

Excuses Are Like A Body Part Everyone Has

So I saw Hot Fuzz. First off I should point out this movie is from the people that made Shaun Of The Dead - which you may recall is the best zombie movie of all time. Well Hot Fuzz just may be the best cop movie of all time. Really. It is like the British version of Lethal Weapon - only actually funny. A big city London cop goes into a sleepy little village where nothing ever happens. And arrests the whole town. Those cheeky bastards are all up to no good anyway. Great movie. 4 tail whips. Even Skipper watched the movie without attacking me. This is unusual for Skipper. Usually he is attacking something every 15 minutes. Or trying to climb onto your shoulder. Or something other than just staying still.

I opened a Left Hand Brewing Company Sawtooth Ale. It was not exactly what I was expecting. It is not a stout or porter, yet darker than a pale ale or bitter. See "ale" can be anything from a yellow color to a stout that you can not see the sun through. This stuff is closer in color to a red ale, but it uses some dark roasted malt. Not enough to give it the typical dark roasted malt color (black) but enough that you can taste it. And the brewers did not try to over hop the stuff. The malty flavor was allowed to prevail over the hops bitterness. Pretty good stuff really. I may have to get another one before I turn in.

I really really have to do that stuff that I have not done yet. No more excuses. I just have to get out there and do it. Clean out truck tool box. Throw all the junk and trash into the large green garbage can so that the claw truck can haul it off. Then remove the tool box so I can clean out all the crap in the bed rug. Then wash the truck, and use the clear coat polish / filler stuff I bought. Then wax the truck so that the water beads again.

And whose great idea was it to get rid of glass head lights? Really. The drivers side head light is fogging up. The passenger side is still OK because there was this "accident" where I took out a Ford Escort that was parked 1/2 on the street. The Ford Escort driver was delivering court documents to a neighbor. Anyway the sun was in my eyes, I was on my way to work, it was the morning, and messing with the satellite radio thing. I hit the back end of the Ford and pushed it into the next yard. The airbags did not deploy so I must have been going less than 15 mph. Probably less than 10 mph.

And yea I said neighbor. I walked two houses over to my home and got a crowbar from the garage, which I used to pry the bumper off the front tire of the truck so I could turn around and drive two houses over to park. What a mess. Anyhow I got a new headlight out of the deal.

But that is not important. What is important is that headlights used to be GLASS. And glass does not fog up. But then they "improved" the system and went with plastic. You no longer change the whole headlight, just the bulb. So why not make the lens out of glass? Why plastic? So it fogs up in a few years and you have to replace them? Now I do think that my halogen lights are better than the old sealed beam lights (and easier to replace) but at least make the lens out of glass!

I have been using - get ready for this - TOOTH PASTE to polish the fogging up lens. And it works. Tooth paste is a very mild abrasive substance, perfect for polishing a lot of things. Like plastic. Just take a paper towel or dirty sock or wash cloth or whatever, put some tooth paste on it, and polish away for a minute or two. The lens will be crystal clear after you wash the paste off. Really. It works. And it makes your headlights smell minty fresh.

I bought some plastic polish. I am going to use that stuff and see if it is any better. But the lens is fogging up faster and faster so I think that the clock is ticking. I will need a new lamp assembly soon. Or else the drivers side headlight will be yellow and the passenger side will be clear. Hey you think that truck was in an accident? Naaaaaa.

I will probably find another excuse to not do anything. So far my favorite excuse is "it is so hot outside", followed by "I am trying to conserve water" and then "I was waiting for it to cool off in the afternoon, but it started raining".

Ed - that is a great idea. I just polished the headlight last week and it is already starting to get foggy.

JMJ - Hot Fuzz is out. You should rent it.

Dusty - the toothpaste (or nay polish) only works if the yellowing is not too bad. If the plastic is fogged up all the way through, then nothing will help. But if the fog is only on the outside surface then you can polish it out.

Try some of the metal cleaning polish by the name of Braso. I used it on some old 1970 meter plastic and it worked great. I could not read the meters before and after they where like brand new. (lawyer notice follows) **WARNING NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR USE OF PRODUCT inconstant with labeling ..TRY IN A SPOT FIRST...**